


moonlight burst into the room

by herowndeliverance (atheilen)



Series: at the moment of awakening [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - BDSM, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dom/sub, First Meetings, Gen, Human Disaster Aaron Burr, Human Disaster Alexander Hamilton, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 06:51:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13094706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atheilen/pseuds/herowndeliverance
Summary: Alexander Hamilton, New York's newest and most brilliant submissive (at least according to himself) is determined not to be impressed by any Dom.Especiallynot Aaron Burr.





	moonlight burst into the room

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the_everqueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_everqueen/gifts).



> A many-years-earlier prequel to the Awakeningverse.

Alexander Hamilton is determined not to be impressed by Aaron Burr.

Sure, everyone knows Burr’s name--a genius, he’s supposed to be, a prodigy. Marked, chosen for some great destiny, the scion of what, in this country, is supposed to be the closest thing to nobility this country possesses. Dominant, of course--those marked for greatness always are. Moneyed.

None of those things are guaranteed to impress Hamilton. Rather the opposite--they speak to how comparatively easy life must be for Burr. Alexander Hamilton is neither Dominant nor moneyed, and no one has marked him out for greatness. Rather, he seems to always be outrunning poverty and obscurity.

But he doesn’t  _ need  _ those things. He will make his own destiny, not submit to one chosen for him by others. He’s always known that. Still, he hopes that in Burr, he will find...an equal. Someone who understands him, understands the way his mind works. For that, he cannot be impressed, or starstruck, or obsequious, or any of the things subs are supposed to be around Doms. He doesn’t want a Dom. Doms are ubiquitous and annoying, and Hamilton could have his pick of them if he wanted to bother, which he doesn’t. He doesn’t have time.

_ I want a friend. _ It’s an embarrassing admission to make, even to himself. He’s done just fine on his own until now. But Alexander Hamilton knows when to take chances at things he wants, and Aaron Burr might be just such a chance.

And in order to gain that friendship, he has to start them off on equal footing, and not succumb to the baser instincts of his nature. He knows that might be a problem--he’s always had a weakness for smart Doms, rare as they are. But he can handle it.

So of course, he calls Aaron Burr ‘sir’ immediately, before Burr even turns around to look at him, because that’s just how his life goes. Hamilton sucks at deference 99 per cent of the time, until he doesn’t want to defer, and then it just...pops out. Why can’t this ever happen on dates, when he actually wants to be polite and charming?

“Sir,” he says, again, for some goddamn reason. “I’m Alexander Hamilton,” he says, “I’m at your service, sir,” and then he  _ bows  _ like Burr’s a character in some goddamn period drama...the noble suitor come to court, or some bullshit like that. It’s old-fashioned gallantry not suited for this new country, or at least, not suited for the man he wants to become in this new country.

He manages to keep his knees from bending. Barely.

See, the problem is: Burr’s beautiful, the kind of beauty that’s completely wasted on Dominants. So many of them rely on bulk, on the appearance of force, and think that’s all they need to make a sub fall at their feet. They don’t even bother to look clean most of the time. Burr--Burr is elegant in a way that cannot be fully explained by his clothes--though Hamilton has to admit those don’t hurt, what can he say, he likes it when Doms dare to wear a bit of color, and this color, halfway between rust and wine, looks exceedingly fine on Burr. He’s small, for a Dominant, though you wouldn’t know it by the way he holds himself, the way he walks, unhurried like he can take up all the space in the world. Hamilton can see years of the deportment classes he himself could never afford in Burr’s posture, and he doesn’t know if the tightness in his stomach is envy or something else.

And the  _ smile…. _

He smiles like a sub, is Hamilton’s first thought, but it feels unfair. Burr clearly isn’t deferential. But his smile takes up his entire face, brilliant, dazzling so there’s nothing else you can look at, or want. Hamilton recognizes it. It’s a trick, and one he’s never managed to pull, and for that reason it pisses him off. Makes him want to know what Burr looks like when he’s angry, which, come to think of it, is probably the reason he sucks at making friends.

Burr’s charming, in a way Dominants never are. Hamilton doesn’t do charming. What Hamilton does, apparently, is babble about how he’d committed assault, as if that isn’t exactly the point people make to say why male submissives  _ in particular  _ shouldn’t be allowed higher education, they’re too driven by their passions, they can’t control themselves. Or in Hamilton’s case, even introduce himself without sounding like a freak.

“You punched the bursar,” says Burr, and fuck it, the damage is done now, there’s no erasing a first impression, so Hamilton might as well explain why he’s here. 

“Yes,” he says. “I wanted to do what you did,” and he explains why, and it turns out Burr’s an orphan, so maybe this is not a complete disaster after all, maybe he can find fellows here in this strange land. Burr of all people might understand. Might excuse his intensity in ways others heretofore have not.

“Can I buy you a drink?” says Burr, and Hamilton swallows back all Maman’s old warnings about what strange Doms could do to you if you went off alone with them and tells Burr that would be nice.

His voice. Fucking. Squeaks. Because it turns out he’s still the same disaster of a person, even after having traversed an ocean. So that’s just fantastic.

He walks off with Burr--next to Burr, not behind, not rushing to catch up or making some kind of weird gesture of submission, and he feels like he’s done it, like he’s pulled something off somehow in spite of himself.

So of course, that’s when everything goes to shit even more, because Burr’s ‘free advice’ is just a variation on the same shit Doms have been telling submissives like him for centuries-- _ shut up and smile, nobody cares what you have to say. _

He’d thought Burr would be better than that.  _ Don’t let them know what you’re against or what you’re for,  _ he says, and sure, fine, but since when have Dominants ever had a  _ them  _ to worry about? Dominants were  _ them:  _ the only arbiters that mattered according to the backwater from whence Hamilton came, never mind justice or honor or loyalty.

He’ll show him. He’ll show them all, but he’ll show this Dom  _ in particular:  _ this smooth-voiced, offensively polished creature. Aaron Burr thinks he can own any room he walks into just because he’s walked into it? He’s in for a surprise.

When the other boys burst in--Burr’s friends, he thinks, or something like that--it’s a huge relief. There’s a pretty switch with them--switches try to hide it but Hamilton always knows--with a smile like sunshine and extremely distracting freckles, whose passion pours from him with every word he speaks. Hamilton listens to him, but the one he watches is Burr. When the switch,  _ John,  _ challenges Burr, Hamilton nods along in agreement.

“If you stand for nothing, Burr, what’ll you fall for?” he says.

_ Let’s dance,  _ he thinks.  _ Sir. _


End file.
